BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE. 489 
board our fleet. The fleet touched at Erie. The citizens saw 
the affecting spectacle of Harrison and Perry leading the 
wounded British hero, still unable to walk without help, from 
the beach to their lodgings. , 
" On board the Detroit, twenty-four hours after her surren- 
der, were found, snugly stowed away in the hold, two Indian 
chiefs, who had the courage to go on board at Maiden, for the 
purpose of acting as sharp shooters to kill our officers. One 
had the courage to ascend into the round top and discharge 
his piece, but the whizzing of shot, splinters, and bits of rig- 
ging, soon made the place too warm for him — he descended 
faster than he went up ; at the moment he reached the deck, 
the fragments of a seaman's head struck his comrade's face, 
and covered it with blood and brains. He vociferated the sa- 
vage interjection " quoh!" and both sought safety below. 
" The British officers had domesticated a bear at Maiden. 
Bruin accompanied liis comrades to battle — was on the deck 
of the Detroit during the engagement, and escaped unhurt. 
" The killed of both fleets were thrown overboard as fast as 
they fell. Several were washed ashore upon the island and 
the main during the gales that succeeded the action. 
" Commodore Perry treated the prisoners with humanity 
and indulgence ; several Canadians, having wives at Maiden, 
were permitted to visit their families on parole. 
" The British were superior in the length and number of 
their guns, as well as in the number of men. The American 
fleet was manned with a motley set of beings, Europeans, 
Africans, Americans from every part of the United States. 
Full one-fourth were blacks. I saw one Russian, who could 
not speak a word of English. They were brave — and who 
could be otherwise under the command of Perry ? 
" The day after the battle, the funeral obsequies of the Ame- 
rican and British officers who had fallen in the action were 
performed in an appropriate and affecting manner. An open- 
ing on the margin of the bay was selected for the interment 
of the bodies. The crews of both fleets attended. The weather 
was fine — the elements seemed to participate in the solemni- 
ties of the day, for every breeze was hushed, and not a wave 
ruffled the surface of the water. The procession of boats — 
the neat appearance of the officers and men — the music — the 
slow and regular motion of the oars, striking in exact time 
with the notes of the solemn dirge — the mournful waving of 
the flags — the sound of the minute guns from the diflferent 
ships in the harbor — the wild and solitary aspect of the place 
